On which I write about the books I read, science, science fiction, fantasy, and anything else that I want to. Currently trying to read and comment upon every novel that has won the Hugo and International Fantasy awards.

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Friday, July 5, 2013

Follow Friday - The Atomic Number of Ununpentium Is 115

It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and two Follow Friday Features Bloggers each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.

Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.

Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".

If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.

If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

And now for the Follow Friday Question: Today’s is the U.S.’ Independence Day. Share your favorite book with a war in it, or an overthrow of the government.

The Man-Kzin Wars

Science fiction and fantasy are riddled with wars. E.E. "Doc" Smith'sLensman series (read review), George R.R. Martin'sSong of Ice and Fire series (read review), David Brin's Uplift series, Catherine Asaro'sSkolian Saga (read review), Poul Anderson'sDominic Flandry series, and on and on. The Lord of the Rings is a root of most modern fantasy, and it is the account of the final war in a series of wars that are discussed in The Silmarillion. Because one of the dominant theme in fantasy fiction is the epic conflict between good and evil, one could probably read fantasy depictions of war every day for the rest of one's life and still not run out of books.

But if I had to pick the one I've read that I like the most, it would have to be the Man-Kzin Wars series, created and edited by Larry Niven. In Niven's fictional Known Space future, the wars between the tiger-like Kzinti and humanity are one of the critical turning points. Niven wrote books like Protector, The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton, and World of Ptavvs (read review) that describe the world before the Man-Kzin wars, and books like Crashlander and Ringworld that take place in the world afterwards, but he never wrote about the wars themselves. Niven says this is because he has never served in a war, and thus doesn't feel qualified to write about one, but it did leave a hole in the Known Space mythology. So Niven did what any well-known author with lots of friends would do: He asked other writers to write stories set in the Known Space setting that take place during the Man-Kzin Wars. And the result was a brilliant series that fleshed out the time period and also brought a variety of voices into the conversation. What makes the series so good is that there are so many different ideas presented, which fit together to form a compelling and intriguing mosaic. And for that, the books that make up the Man-Kzin Wars series are my favorite fictional depictions of warfare.

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